1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, method and program, and to a storage medium on which this program has been stored. More particularly, the invention relates to a technique for assigning attribute values to electronic data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in order to facilitate management of electronic data, the data is assigned attribute values such as a data name, date and time of creation and data type. By providing a function such as a function for conducting a search using these attribute values, it is easy for a user to arrive at the target data using a data management apparatus. There are attribute values that can be assigned automatically, as in the manner of creation date and time, by an apparatus based upon sensor information sensed automatically at the time of data acquisition, and attribute values that can be assigned manually by the user, as in the manner of data name. There are also instances where an attribute is assigned automatically upon analyzing the content of data. When data is managed using such attribute values, an important consideration is how to assign highly reliable attribute values to data with little burden being imposed upon the user.
As an example of a known technique relating to assignment of attribute values is an arrangement in which, by using data to which an attribute value has already been assigned, the attribute value thereof is borrowed for use (see the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-053371). A further example of a known technique relating to assignment of attribute values is an arrangement in which, when an attribute value is assigned manually, the burden of manual assignment is reduced by so arranging it that assignment can be achieved using a selection format to select the attribute value from a list of already prepared attribute values (see the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-175298).
A further example of a known technique relating to assignment of attribute values is an arrangement in which, when the target data is finally found after conducting a search while changing the search condition multiple times because matching data could not be obtained, keywords that were the search conditions used until the target data was found are assigned as attribute values (see the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-145706). Still another example of a known technique relating to assignment of attribute values is an arrangement in which, rather than attempting to solve the problem by assigning an attribute value, data to which an attribute value has not yet been assigned is also added to a search-result data list at the time of a search, thereby enabling data to be found even if an attribute value has not been assigned (see the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-107110).
However, with the arrangement for analyzing data and assigning an attribute value automatically, the reliability of an attribute value obtained from an analytical result generally is low. This holds true for an attribute value indicating a highly abstract characteristic, such as an attribute value representing the content of data. A problem which arises is that a value obtained may be different from the value sought by the user.
Further, with the arrangement that makes borrowed use of an attribute value from existing data or the arrangement that assigns an attribute value upon preparing a list of attribute values in advance, the problem is that the target data will not be hit upon in the search until the user performs the processing for assigning the attribute value.
Further, with the arrangement in which the attribute values used are the keywords of search conditions that have been changed when conducting a search while making the change in search conditions, it is necessary to manage from when to when searches were tried in order to find the same data.
Further, with the arrangement in which data is included in search results even though an attribute value has not yet been assigned thereto, the search results come to include a large quantity of noise. This is a problem since it detracts from search accuracy.